Autism Spectrum Therapies reviews

There is a lot that could be said about this company and even more that can be said about what I witnessed specifically but I will try to be succinct. Supervisors were still in training and clearly overwhelmed and stressed by their workload. The result of which was that they were forgetful, inconsistent, and curt supervisors who made learning difficult. The type who would explain something once and if you didn't understand the first time around they would speak down to you. Eventually, some confided in me that they were having panic attacks and chest pains because they were so stressed out. The children all seemed uncomfortable with some of the supervisors. Not only would they lose their temper they would become threatening and mean. We had one case in particular where a child had limited verbal skills, had potential for aggression, and would spit repeatedly. When the child had a tantrum supervisors would grow impatient and proceeded to physically hold the child down by the shoulders while leaning over him or they would hold his arms across his chest while sitting behind him as a sort of "bear hug" to try and keep him still. I was then instructed me to do the same on days when I was alone. I witnessed this multiple times and for as long as 45 minutes as the child wailed. Any objection and management would get very defensive and combative. Eventually, I got the nerve to speak to the next supervisor up but it was reduced to a 'he said, she said' situation. I felt as they believed I was exaggerating or overreacting and I was not taken seriously. On a few other occasions, concerns for safety regulations were met with disinterest and some mockery. The sentiment seemed to be, "That's the reality of the business and that's how life is." Another incident was at a daycare where, to summarize quickly, the child under our care was not being treated well. The child was left in their filth for hours until I arrived, the teaching assistants called him derogatory names, and they would scream at the children at the top of their lungs until they cried. Again, when I brought this up mangement seemed annoyed to have another thing to deal with. Again, they acted like I was being too sensitive and that I should keep my mouth shut. To summarize, the AST branch I'm familiar with seemed to cut a lot of corners on safety and basic respect for the children. They may put employees through a "safety protocol and training" but it's for show because it all goes out the window once we're out in the field. AST's sole interest is profit and doing the bare minimum to present a nice image.

The job can be a lot even when you become an experienced CSA due to the lack of training, growth, incentives and poor management. As a CSA, you will learn how to handle multiple tasks and manage weekly deadlines, but this comes as the cost of mental exhaustion and being burnt out in the long run. There is no room for growth, lack of advancements and no clear professional developments nor incentive structure in place currently. Upper management will often turn the other way if you bring up any of these points and if pushed, all they will say is that “we are working on it.” Management have said that the schedulers are replaceable and are not worth the company’s investments -- they don’t care about CSA's performance. My overall advice is to avoid working for this company, and if you already are, then I suggest to always stay true to yourself and know your worth and advocate for yourself even if you receive push backs for doing so. There are multiple instances where upper management would play favorite and single an employee out thus creating a toxic work environment . The higher ups would talk about your work ethics or their perception of you to other people, but would not hold professional review discussions with the persons they are concerned about. If you express that you require more assistance or show your disappointment in the evaluation structure (which there is none right now), then upper management will label you as being negative and unappreciative. If AST upper management is reading this, please note that this is extremely unprofessional and all that is said about someone will always circle back to that person you are talking about. Whether upper management admits it or not, the fact is that this toxic work culture and cattiness of the the ones in power have caused lapses of mental anxiety and depression for the hardworking schedulers below them.